This invention relates to buoy anchoring systems, and more particularly to improvements in such systems of the type wherein a mooring line is payed out as the anchoring device descends and is automatically secured at the proper length when the anchor device comes to rest on the bottom.
The advantages and uses of systems of this type are well known and include primarily the ability to establish a marker buoy having a reasonably small watch circle even though anchored in relatively deep water, and without having to have prior knowledge of the actual depth of the water in order to predetermine the length of mooring line.
A variety of anchoring systems of the mentioned typed have been devised in the past and have employed a brake or jamming means to snub or arrest the payout of mooring line from a reel or a coiled supply carried by the anchor device. Those systems have typically used reel locks, brakes, line jamming jaw means, or line snubbing shafts around which line from a fixed coil is caused to take a plurality of turns so as to frictionally resist further payout.
Of the foregoing, those devices that rely on the friction of a plurality of turns of line about a shaft or core to halt line payout from a fixed coil that is coaxial with the shaft are considered to be the least likely to cause line breakage or damage. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,336,892 to G. J. Barry et al and 3,351,158 to P. E. Kite disclose line payout arresting mechanisms using that principle. In the Barry et al device, as the line pays off the fixed coil, it passes through an aperture in a rotary member mounted on the end of the shaft. A solenoid or spring driven pin is provided to halt rotation of the rotary member, thereby causing the line to wrap the shaft and terminate payout. It is evident that any hockle in the line or binding of the rotary member will result in premature termination of the line payout. The required interactions of a plurality of mechanical and/or electrical parts during actuation to terminate payout increases likelihood of failure of the device to function properly at the required time. The Kite disclosure reveals a similarly complex device wherein actuation of a number of coacting mechanical elements, including pivoting of an arm at the end of the shaft by a spring, are required to result in proper operation of the device. Of course, the complexity of each of these devices renders them expensive to fabricate and maintain. Maintenance prior to use, is of course, an important factor in buoy anchoring systems of the type concerned which may remain stored for substantial periods under conditions in which rust, corrosion, and dampness tend to attack various, mechanical, electrical and pyrotechnic components, rendering them liable to failure.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a principal object of this invention to provide an improved buoy anchoring system having automatic termincation of line payout.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a buoy anchoring device having an unusually high degree of reliability.
Still another object is to provide an improved anchoring and automatic mooring line securing device that does not subject the line to the pinching, jamming, or chaffing common to some prior art anchoring devices, and avoids the shortcomings attendant the unnecessarily complicated structure of other such devices.
As another object, the invention aims to provide an anchoring apparatus that is noteably more economical to manufacture than its predecessors, and which can be stored for great lengths of time under severe conditions of temperature and humidity without degrading the reliability thereof.
Other objects and many of the attendant advantages will be readily appreciated as the subject invention becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.